Monday, October 02, 2006

On Zionism and anti-Semitism

Regarding the New Fault Line on the Left

The author of the article that prompted this post so demeans people that are experiencing anti-Semitism and very much helps anti-Semitism to thrive, which is why I find it absolutely despicable that he opens his piece with: "There are those who take the question of anti-semitism seriously - and those who do not." It is a textbook example of doublespeak.

How can one disagree with that, after all? He begins his piece with one of the most commonly used catch phrases known and catch phrases, as we all know, usually elicit unexamined thought processes, unconscious and knee-jerk reactions.

Here I supply the link to his piece and below, I tear apart, for those with ears to hear and a mind their own, the very premise that his "critique" rests upon. Here is a snip from said article and my response:

"Here, for example, is Steven Rose: 'Anti-semitism is the cheapest rallying cry of Israel's Zionist apologists and one that I, as one of Jewish ethnicity, find particularly nauseating.'

Well, my colleague at the Open University should get his sick bag ready. First, notice the structure of his criticism. Anti-semitism is a 'rallying cry' - it's a way of mobilising people, it's an instrument. This instrumental conception of the question of anti-Semitism rests on two assumptions: first, that there is nothing in the charge, and second, that those who make it do so in bad faith."

Mr. Rose didn't say that all instances of charges of anti-Semitism were erroneous and he didn't say that all such charges had, as their source, "Israel's Zionist apologists," though Jon Pike attempts to insinuate that such is the case. What he did imply, however, was that we should be wary of anything that normally provokes an unconscious response, like patriotism or any blind acceptance of anything.

Pike has extrapolated Rose's comments in just the way necessary to demean his message and, though he could have been mistaken in so many ways in his interpretation, he is mistaken in just such a way as to imply that those who state that false charges of anti-Semitism demean the actual anti-Semitism that exists are, in fact, being anti-Semitic. A more apt example of circular logic I can't think of. As such, he is screaming to be labelled an Israeli apologist and all I can say about that is that every single Jewish friend I have ever had must be crawling with disgust, being misrepresented to the western public. Some, I KNOW, are not so willing to walk down the street as they were a few years ago and a lot of it has to do with the fact that the "Isreali" bloc is ruthless in its condemnation of reason.

Pike may be merely showing his biases (giving the benefit of the doubt) yet biases can perpetuate tyranny just as silence or ignorance can.

Of course there are plenty of people around screaming about Zionists that are merely latching onto the latest, somewhat politically correct way to express their hate but we ought not to lump a Jewish man into that, especially since his words had to be twisted to do so.

I could extrapolate the author's words to - wait a minute - I have it! He is assuming that this is a Jew being anti-Semitic and it must all be that Jewish self-hate and guilt that white racists always talk about. That's it!

But of course, that's not it at all. You see, just because one can rationalize something does not mean that one is being rational.

I, for one, do not confuse religion with race. What more could a Nazi ask for, after all. Jews are being misrepresented by Zionists and the hostility toward Jews continues to grow.

Postscript: I only got as far as the first three paragraphs of Pike's piece when I wrote this response. Upon finishing, I went back and scanned through only to find out that he directly addresses charges that he and others fake concern with anti-Semitism in order to defend Israel. Of course the author could see this charge coming. He knew exactly what he was doing and as is illustrated by my having noticed immediately what he was up to (I am no rocket scientist), so do others.

Everyone needs to get used to the idea, and I mean everyone, that people of their own race are entirely capable of selling them out. This is what makes the threat of these times cross all racial boundaries. Oppressors come in all colors as do the oppressed.

0 Comments:

Links to this post:

About Me

Short version: I'm not sure how much more eclectic a person can be but I am sure that a lot of individuals consider themselves to be more unique than most - a definite contradiction of course. I was born on the first day of the summer of love and I have been an activist, a geek, a hippie, a bit of a punk, a nomad, a sailor, and a bunch of stuff all in between. I have been a pagan, a buddhist, a zoroastrian, an atheist, blah blah. Labels aside, scanning my posts are a better guage of my interests than any paragraph I can write. Yet I am so much more. Aren't you? LONG VERSION